Bipolar: 10 startling things you need to know

I’m not a mental health professional. I’m The Moody Mom. A patient who has bipolar II. I read a lot about mental illnesses. I’ve learned so much through my own experiences. With so many stigmas and misconceptions out there, I started this blog partially to share current facts, theories and research. Today the topic is bipolar disorder.

Doctors don’t completely understand the causes of bipolar. It’s symptoms include having the elated highs of mania to the lows of major depression, along with various mood states between. People with bipolar vacillate from one extreme to the other. These extremes in mood are called “episodes”. Or as I like to call them, “temporary insanity”.

Bipolar is classified as a mood disorder which is a category of illnesses including: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, persistent depressive disorder, cyclothymia and SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

More than 10 million Americans have bipolar disorder. It affects men and women equally, as well as all races, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic classes.

The bipolar suicide rate is 60 times higher than that of the general public and one in five people with bipolar disorder commits suicide. It is a deadly disease, which should be taken very seriously.

Moody Mom comment: it used to be called “manic depression” but nowadays most people say “bipolar disorder”

200,000 people with bipolar disorder are homeless in the US.

69% of bipolar patients are mis-diagnosed at least 3.5 times.

Bipolar disorder is the 4th-highest reason for disability.

Moody Mom comment: when someone says something like “she’s so bipolar!” and they aren’t referring to a person who actually has the disorder, it is really annoying to those of us who have it. Just saying.

There are four types of bipolar :

Bipolar I- having episodes that swing from depression to mania.

Bipolar II- having hypomanic episodes, which are elevated mood but not full-blown mania, and depression episodes.

Rapid cycling – having four or more episodes of mania or depression in one year. In severe cases, episodes can occur as frequently as daily.

Mixed episodes – having symptoms of both mania and depression simultaneously or in very rapid sequence. This type has the highest suicide rate.

Moody Mom comment: mania is often misunderstood. It means an extremely elevated mood that can feel good (going on wild spending sprees, hyper sexuality, partying all night, night after night) or it could feel bad (extreme agitation, violent behavior, psychosis). One severe manic episode could literally ruin your life.

There is no cure for bipolar but there are many treatment protocols including medication, therapy, and some experimental treatments. Once a person is diagnosed, it can take years for their doctor to discover what is just the right combination of meds at the right doses. Each patient is different.

Moody Mom comment: the medical community uses the terms “disorder”, “illness” and “disease” interchangeably. There really is no difference in the words’ meanings.

People with bipolar are often stigmatized, mistreated and cast out. Treatments can be ineffective, expensive and require tremendous self-discipline and extreme lifestyle changes. Medications can cause terrible side effects. As I like to say, bipolar doesn’t mean crazy or incapable! People can lead happy, successful lives. Others cannot or will not. We’re all different. And we deserve respect.

7 thoughts on “Bipolar: 10 startling things you need to know”

Hi Adrienne, thank you for sharing the facts about bipolar disorder and for your moody mom comments. The medical community uses the terms “service users”, “clients” and “patients” interchangeably too. It drives me crazy. I believe it should be “patienst”. What do you think?

I personally do not have any close friends or family with this disorder, but I am always trying to learn more about psychology (I work with teens) so this was helpful. We can be so quick to judge what we don’t understand. I recently saw the episode of Modern Love where Anne Hathaway plays a woman with bipolar disorder. It helped me to understand a bit more also – but I’m wondering how accurate / true it would seem to someone who has it? Have you seen that episode? If so I would love to hear your opinion.

I have not seen that. But whenever I’ve seen bipolar depicted on TV, it’s always the stereotypical crazy man in an ER violently thrashing around, screaming jibberish, and some other character always says “looks like he’s off his meds again!” while rolling their eyes. Gee, I wonder why mental illness has such a stigma?

True. They go for the dramatic / extreme portrayal. This one was different she was trying to explain what it was like and it actually kinda helped something click for me. Keep helping to educate and spread awareness! What you are doing is so important – if everyone fights their battles quietly and hidden then we will never be able to truly understand each other.

Thanks for your encouragement. When I started this blog, I thought it was so unique….lol. Then I learned that not only are there many millions of bloggers out there, but mental health is one of the more popular topics. Along with travel blogs and food blogs. 😀